Location: Kinshasa
Event: Catholic leaders, opposition parties, and some Protestant leaders are calling for peaceful protests on Sunday, January 21, 2018 in Kinshasa. These calls have been endorsed by some opposition and civil society groups, with parishioners are being asked to march after Sunday morning mass from numerous churches in Kinshasa. As with any planned political event, disruptions to transportation and road blockages are possible.
U.S. government direct-hires are advised to limit their travel to within Gombe.
Actions to Take:
- Avoid the areas of the demonstrations. There is an increased potential for crowds in the vicinity of churches in Kinshasa.
- Avoid crowds, use your best judgment, and exercise increased caution when out, even within Gombe.
- Bear in mind that internet and SMS outages may occur again, as they did on the New Year weekend. During the 48-hour end-of-year data blockage, cellular voice connections continued to function.
- Checkpoints are expected throughout the weekend as well, especially during periods of darkness.
- Please review the Travel Warning for the DRC and remain alert for potentially dangerous situations.
Assistance:
- See the State Department’s travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information for the DRC.
- Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
- Contact the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, located at 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, at +243-081-225-5872 (Do not dial the zero when calling from abroad); the Consular Section at tel. +243-081-884-6859 or +243-081-884-4609 from Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After-hours emergency number for U.S. citizens is 081-556-0151.
- Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
- Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
